“They are firing on all cylinders at this point,” said Stacy Rasgon, senior analyst with Bernstein Research in New York. “I think they’re seeing upside in market share, particularly when you look at them compared to some other guys out there.”

The strong results came despite a hiccup from one of Qualcomm’s top customers, Apple, which reported weaker than expected sales of iPhones last quarter. Qualcomm makes modem chips for some versions of iPhones, including the latest, the iPhone 5.

Analysts were nervous that slower than expected iPhone sales might signal weakness in the smartphone market. But Qualcomm’s strong results eased those fears, as sales gains from other companies that use Qualcomm’s chips and technology in their devices — such as Samsung and Sony — offset any drag from Apple.

Qualcomm posted a record 182 million chip shipments in the quarter, ahead of analysts’ forecasts of about 175 million shipments.

“We are off to an excellent start in 2013, and I’m pleased to report a record quarter driven by strong year-over-year growth in both our Qualcomm CDMA Technologies and Qualcomm Technology Licensing businesses,” Chief Executive Paul Jacobs said in a conference call with analysts. “Looking forward, we believe our long-term growth drivers remain intact. Smartphone adoption remains strong.”

The company raised its outlook for the full year — sort of. Qualcomm now forecasts sales of $23.4 billion to $24.4 billion — up about $400 million from its previous estimates. Earnings are predicted to be between $4.25 and $4.45 per share, excluding charges. That compares to its prior earnings guidance of $4.12 to $4.32.

Rasgon, the Bernstein analyst, pointed out that Qualcomm essentially is taking the gains from its better-than-expected first quarter and adding them onto its prior full year forecast. As a result, it is not really forecasting an increase in the pace of growth for the remaining three quarters of its fiscal year.

“What we’re saying is although we saw a really nice improvement here in the first quarter, we are cautious about the remaining three quarters given the macro environment,” said Bill Keitel, Qualcomm’s chief financial officer.

Analysts say Qualcomm is benefiting from increased sales of smartphones as replacements for talk and text devices in emerging regions such as China and Latin America.

Qualcomm also has a technical lead over competitors in integrated high-speed 4G technology — which is allowing it to gain market share in high-priced smartphones and tablets in developed countries such as the U.S.

“The market is moving in their direction,” said Rasgon.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm announced that Keitel, its chief financial officer for more than a decade, will retire effective March 11. The 59-year-old will continue to serve as an adviser to Qualcomm though this year. The company has hired George S. Davis, currently executive vice president and chief financial officer of Applied Materials, to replace Keitel.